The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of a pusher needle containing a guide for the pusher and also relates to use of the pusher needle.
The basis for increasingly using pusher needles instead of tongue needles is the desire to increase the production speed during stitch formation. During the brief pushing motion of the pusher of a pusher needle it is possible to attain decisively greater frequencies than in the case of oscillating to-and-fro movements of the tongue of a tongue needle.
A heretofore known pusher needle is of linear construction and consists of a head, shaft and foot or base. The head possesses an open hook and while the shaft is structured to have a guide for the pusher, the foot or base is provided with a cam or recess for movement control of the needle. The foot of the pusher likewise is structured for transmitting the pushing or displacing forward movement for closing the hook and a return movement for opening the hook. Although the pusher needle, in contrast to the tongue needle, renders possible increased production speeds during stitch formation, the required combination of a horizontal and a vertical to-and-fro movement of the pushing needle for forming a stitch constitutes a further limitation in relation to a still further production increase.